Challenges
Discuss the challenges in creating a new innovative product and why Gabby My biggest challenge in creating a new product was not having an initial direction. When you work for company that has a problem to solve, it's somewhat easier to get the ball rolling. As a class project, I was looking for problems or looking at every item in my home and how it might be used differently. The term innovation or innovative initially caused me to worry as I didn't see myself as an innovative person. I still struggle with this but have come to realize innovation doesn't necessarily mean world changing. Our product, My Room, combines an existing product that is very popular, blind bags, with decorative items on a small scale. My oldest daughter has to share a bedroom and wishes she could decorate the whole bedroom to her taste, but instead she re-creates her own personal space. She is always changing out posters and art on the walls around her bed, re-arranging re-organizing her personal items and surrounding her bed in things she loves. She was the inspiration for My Room. Once the team had completed brainstorming, we agreed on moving forward with the My Room project. The largest challenge moving forward was how to bring this idea to life. We were able to come up with a very rough prototype using some cardboard boxes, contact paper, various toys, colored paper bags and the artistic help of some first and second graders. Candace The biggest challenge that I faced was creating a new product from scratch. For me, creating abstract ideas or new processes is much more simple than creating a product or physical object. Often times I see things as working for a simple function and the creativity piece can be lost on me. What I enjoyed not just about this project, but within the class in general, was the different ideas to open up the innovative processes and open my mind to new ways of viewing things. I love creating the new and different, sometimes it just takes a little help in getting there. Working as a part of a team is also a way to overcome that challenge. Having the ability to start an idea and have others build off the idea is a great way to come up with a creative, yet functional, new idea. Working as a virtual team was a challenge in itself for me. I'm a very visual and verbal person. I tend to work best when I can sit down and talk through different concepts which is more difficult to do in a virtual classroom setting when everyone has different schedules and busy lives. Overall despite the challenges, I feel our team made them into strengths. Lisa and Gabby did a fantastic job of taking the lead and delegating with Amanda making strong contributions as well. The challenges faced that I've referenced are mostly my own that I continue to work on and strengthen. Lisa As I reflect on this project I would have to say our greatest challenges was technology itself. Some of our computers didn’t want to work with the browsers, or our not being familiar with building websites where we posted our product as if we were going to start selling it tomorrow. The use of wiki was very interesting since I do not believe any of us had ever used it before but we used that venue to post answers to these questions and give an overview from all of us on the team. Some of us where more adapt at addressing those issues than others but what was nice is that we all pulled together and shared what we had to work with to bring this project to a successful conclusion. I am very interested in our ever changing society and culture so I am "plugged in" to the latest news stories and follow them. Shortly after we got this assignment there was the massive school shooting in Parkland Florida, which brought about the idea of the "self disarming gun" that would use a censor to recognized it's targets and if it is pointed at a human it would automatically lock up the gun and the manufacturer would have to unlock it. Even though I felt this would be a valuable contribution to society, it could also be very controversial so I had no problem getting creative with "MyRoom" project. The fact that I am older and an "empty nester" it could have been a leap for me but I have grandchildren and one in particular loves her "My Pretty Ponies" so I was able to envision Gabby's idea. I did not feel that the brainstorming process was a challenge because right out of the gate we all had some very interesting ideas and we moved swiftly at the beginning of the process. What was challenging is the amount of time in between communications, we all have lives outside of this class and project but with the varied schedules and lifestyles coming together as a successful team has been a challenge we have overcome. Amanda My biggest challenge when trying to think of something new and creative was that I was looking from ground zero with no direction. I think that if my company were looking for ideas, I would have more direction simply because I know what my company stands for, is looking for, and the type of business we’re in – by starting fresh, I tried to combine things that made absolutely no sense and then tried to convince myself that it would work and that it should be an idea to add to the group conversation. I never saw myself as a very creative or innovative person; I can decorate a preschool daycare room quick and elaborate, but the innovation is what got me! Brainstorming, I think, was one of the simpler tasks of this project as we all entered our ideas onto a spreadsheet and then decided as a group. After that, the challenges set in. The biggest challenge I faced, was following the product and staying involved regarding making sure I understood where we were going with this and what the product was; once the pictures and the prototype was drafted everything really came together for me. Our product is ideal for the teen and tween because I remember as a tween having to share a bedroom for a year or so and all I wanted to do was take over everything to decorate it to my taste but my sisters (2 of them!) also had to feel at home so I was only given what surrounded my bed; this could have been something that would have let me be creative and unique but still keeping it compact! After the prototype, the challenges faced were keeping the website created on topic and making sure we were answering all of the questions required as well as what a consumer would what to know!